Saturday, September 3, 2016

Drugs to avoid during pregnancy

Some drug can harm your baby during different stages of your pregnancy. At these time, your doctor might tell you to stop taking your reguler medicine and put you on a different medicine that is safer for your baby

Some drugs are known to induce malformations in newborn. They should be avoided in any time of the pregnancy : Vitamine A, anti-coagulants (warfarin, coumadin), lithium and some anti-convulsivants (carbamazepin, phenytoin)
Other medicines can be harmful to the baby depending on the dosage, the time of pregnancy they are taken at, or because there is only a limited knowledge on their consequences on pregnant womwn. This includes anti-inflammatories (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen), anti-depressants, anti-nausea medicines, many anti-hypertensive medicines (propanolol), many mental health medicines (diazepam, chlorpromazine, haloperidol...) and also many anti-allergic medicines.
Some other medicine have been used a lot during pregnancy and do not appear to cause major birth defects. This includes drugs such as some antibiotics, acetaminophen/paracetamol, aspartame (artificial sweetener), famotidine, prednisone (cortisone), insulin.
Woman wanting to give birth or pregnant women with a preexisting condition such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure should seek medical advice on the appropriate way to continue their treatment as these conditions if untreated could be harmful for the baby.

Safe medicines to use during pregnancyPain/fever/cold/flu-paracetamol (acetaminophen) is thought to be safe for short-term use for pain and fever in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Avoid anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, ketoprofen, diclofenac, and aspirin, especially in the third trimester.